'Save
the Children' has urgently called for international assistance to help
Bangladesh meet a surge in demand for ventilators to cope with the
COVID-19 outbreak and avert a humanitarian disaster in the country.There
are reportedly 1,769 ventilators in Bangladesh at this moment or in the
pipeline, which means an average of one ventilator for every 93,273
people, said the 'Save the Children' in a media release.Most of the
country's intensive care beds and ventilators are in the major urban
centers, including capital Dhaka, making it difficult for remote
communities to access, it said.The organization expressed concern
for the estimated 3.3 million people who live in Cox's Bazar district,
one million of whom are Rohingyas living in cramped conditions with
limited access to adequate hygiene and health facilities.The
scarcity of ventilators in the district means lives will be lost when
COVID-19 starts to spread more widely in the community.'Save the
Children' called for a single global plan to help confront one of the
biggest threats to global health and security in modern times.This
plan must be underpinned by debt relief, increased financing for public
health, safety nets for the most vulnerable and effective coordination."At
present, it is difficult for Bangladesh to meet the expected surge in
demand for ventilators to help respond to the COVID-19 outbreak," said
Dr Shamim Jahan, Deputy Country Director for Save the Children in
Bangladesh. "We are in this together - no single country can confront
COVID-19 alone, even the richest and most powerful among us."